Road to the Revolution

The Origins of Revolt: For Wednesday read 122-128.

1.       What effects did the Seven Years War have on the relationship between the colonies and the mother country?
2.       Why did the British increase taxes on colonial trade and the enforcement of these taxes?
3.       Why did the Writs of Assistance upset American colonists?
4.       How was the Sugar Act different from earlier duties?  Which group of colonists did it hurt most?
5.    How was the Stamp Act different from earlier taxes?  Why did this tax cause more resistance by the colonists?
6..    How did the colonists resist the Stamp Act?  Why were they successful?  What long-term effect might this act and the colonists’ resistance have had?

Rising Tide of Conflict:  For Friday read 128-137
1. What were the Towshend Duties?  Why did Townshend think they would work?  How did the colonists respond?  What were the long-term effects of the duties and the response they received?
2.   Who was responsible for the Boston Massacre?  How was the massacre seen by the colonists and why was it seen that way?
3. What was the importance of the Committees of Correspondence?
4. Why did the Tea Act upset so many colonists?

The Decision: For Tuesday Read 143-145 and Degler Artricle.  Write Constitutional Congress statement.  Instructions will be given two days prior to assignment.

1. What were the Coercive Acts and how did the colonists react to them?
2. Why did the Coercive Acts bring Americans closer to war?
3. What did the First Continental Congress do?  How important was it?
4. What effect did Lexington and Concord have on relations with England?
5. Why did the colonists finally declare independence?

Also read Degler article.
1.   What is Degler’s main argument?  Do you agree with him?
2.    Was the revolution conservative or radical?

TEST ON COLONIAL AMERICA UP TO JULY 4, 1776  (CHAPTERS 1-7 and pages 140-145) ON WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY.

Know the significance of the following:

mercantilism; Navigation Acts; revenue raising tax; trade controlling tax; Sugar Act; Molassaes Act; Writs Of Assistance; James Otis; Stamp Act; Stamp Act Congress; Lord Grenville; “virtual representation”; “actual representation”; Patrick Henry; Loyal Nine; Sons of Liberty; Gov. Thomas Hutchinson; Declaratory Act; John Locke; “Two Treatises on Government”;  Charles Townshend; Quartering Act; Townshend Duties; internal tax ; external tax; John Dickinson; “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania”; Sam Adams; John Hancock; Lord North; Boston Massacre; Paul Revere; Committees of Correspondence; Gaspee; Tea Act; Boston Tea Party; Coercive Acts; “Intolerable Acts”; Quebec Act; First Continental Congress; Suffolk Resolves; Battles of Lexington & Concord, 1775; Olive Branch Petition; Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775; James Galloway; John Adams; Thomas Jefferson; Benjamin Franklin; Thomas Paine; “Common Sense;

 
 

French and Indian Wars

French & Indian Wars:  for Thursday, read 106-114; for Tuesday, read pages 114-121.

1.       Why were the French & Indian Wars fought?
2.       Why did most Indians side with the French?  Was this prudent?  What was the result for the tribes that sided with the French?  What was the result for those who sided with the British?
3.       Who won the Seven Years War?  Why did they win?
4.       What long-term effects do you think this may have had on the colonies and their relationship with Great Britain?

Explain the siginficance of the following:
Seven Years War; Great War for Empire; Albany Congress; George Washington; Fort Duquesne; Fort Pitt; Gen. Braddock; William Pitt; Gen. Wolfe; Pontiac’s Rebellion; Proclamation of 1763

The song below is not only the only song I've ever heard about the French and Indian War, it's a great song about the Acadians -  French Canadians who were expelled from the Arcdia region of Quebec as a result of the last French and Indian War.  As your book describes on pages 116-117, many Arcadians moved to the French colony of Louisiana, where they settled and became known as the Cajuns.  Their distinct ethnic culture and language survives today in regions of Lousiana.  If you've ever had jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish pie, etc. you have the Cajuns to thank. Beneath that first song are a couple of examples of Cajun influenced music. Enjoy the songs; they are a big part of what is great about America!

Enlightenment and Great Awakening:  Read 84 – 105 and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

1.      What was the Enlightenment, and how did it affect the British American colonies?
2.      What was the Great Awakening, and why was it important?

Know the significance of the following: Enlightenment; proprietary colony; royal colony; charter colony; established church; Pennsylvania; Maryland; Rhode Island; Great Awakening; Jonathan Edwards; George Whitefield; Deism.

 

First Essay

Our first essay is due on Wednesday, September 26.  It should be 4-5 pages in length and it should follow standard MLA format.  Your paper must be submitted to www.turnitin.com.  Our turnitin.com class ID is 5563289 and our password is "history."  In addition to submitting the paper through turnitin.com, you must bring a paper copy to class on Wednesday, September 26 - we will do some work with the papers in class, so you must have it with you on Wednesday.  The essay question is:

Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. Why did this difference in development occur?

The Middle Colonies and the Dominion of New England

For Friday, 9/21:  Read 52-65

1.         What distinguishing characteristics did Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey hold in common in terms of their economy and society?  Have any of these characteristics survived to today?  Are they a part of American culture, socity, economy, and/or politics?
2.         How was Pennsylvania different from all the other colonies?
3.         What was the Dominion of New England and why might it be important to the long-term history of the colonies and the American revolution?

Know the significance of the following:

William Penn; Holy Experiment; Society of Friends (Quakers); Peter Stuyvesant; Iroquois; Benjamin Franklin.

 

For Friday, 9/21:

From time to time I will post parts of the documentary New York by Ken Burns so that you can see the correlatiosn between what we are studying in class and the great city you live in. Below is the first part (1/8) of Episode 1.   I ask that you watch the first three parts of Episode 1 by Friday. I think it will give you some real insight into colonial life in your city. After watching the episodes please post your reactions to teh film in the comments section of the blog.

The Puritan Mission in New England

The Puritan Mission. Read 43-52 and  &; Degler Article for Tuesday.  Read 76-82 for Wednesday

1.      According to Degler, what is the difference between the stereotypes of the Puritans and reality?  According to Degler, how have the Puritans influenced Anerica in the long run?
2.   What was the Puritan mission?
3.      How were the Puritans different from the Pilgrims (Separatists)?
4.      How did the New England economy, society, culture, and government differ from the southern colonies?  Why were these differences present?
5.   Can you see any long-term affects that the New England colonies had on American society, culture, economy, and politics?

Know the significance of the following:

Pilgrims; Puritans; Separatist; Non-Separatists; Church of England; John Winthrop; Calvinism; Anne Hutchinson; Antinomianism; Roger Williams; “elect” or “saints”; Half-Way Covenant; Thomas Hooker; Fundamental Orders of Connecticut; Old Deluder Act; King Phillip’s War; Salem Witch Trials; Dominion of New England

 

 

Just Bragging about My Brother...

This is probably incredibly boring to most, but it's a video of my brother testifying before a U.S. House Sub-Committee on Labor.

http://edworkforcehouse.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=110

The Southern British Colonies

For Wednesday, 9/12:  England’s First Colony:  Read 25-33

1.      What events and new ideas enabled English colonization of the Americas?
2.      Was Jamestown a success?

For Friday,  9/13: The Chesapeake Colonies & The Carolinas:  Read 33-39, 66-76

1.      In what ways were Maryland and Virginia the same and different?
2.      What affect did tobacco have on Chesapeake economy, culture, and society?
3.      Why was Bacon’s Rebellion important?
4.      What important precedents do you see developing in Virginia by 1700?
5.      Describe the development of slavery in the southern British colonies.
6.      How were the Carolinas different from the Chesapeake colonies?
7.      Can you see any long-term affects that the southern colonies had on American society, culture, economy, and politics?

Know the significance of the following: joint stock company; headright system; John Smith; John Rolfe; House of Burgesses; Bacon’s Rebellion; James Oglethorpe.

 

A Prayer for September 11th, 2012

Last year the prayer below was prayed at the memorial Mass for my friend Sean Lugano. I think it puts our response to the attack on our country on 9/11/2001 in the right perspective. I think it's also a good prayer to keep in mind as we begin to study the proud history of our own nation.

This is my prayer, O God of all nations,

A prayer of peace for lands afar mine.

This is my home, the country where my heart is,

Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine.

But other hearts in other lands are beating,

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

 

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,

And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;

But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,

And skies everywhere are as blue as mine...

O hear my prayer, thou God of all nations,

A prayer of peace, for their land and for mine.

The Columbian Exchange

Homework for Tuesday, Sept. 11:  Finish reading Chapter 1.     

1. In what ways were American Indian societies different from European or later Euro-American societies?
2.  Why do Historians have different interpretations of past events?
3.  What social, political, economic, and technological “forces” led to the European exploration and conquest of the New World?
4.   How did the transfer of people, cultures, and germs affect the Americas and Europe?

Please see the podcast below. It is an interview (on NPR's Fresh Air) with Charles Mann, the author of 1493 a book about how the exchange of plants, animals, and microbes radically changed the course of history for both the Old World and the New World. It's a great example of how unitended consequences are often even more important than intended consequences.

Columbus and Zinn; An Introduction to Historiography

Homework For Monday, September 10:
Read Course Outline, found on my edline website and blog.
Read pages 2-14 in your textbook.  You do not need to take notes on this reading.
Read the section on Christopher Columbus from Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States (distributed in class).  Answer the following reflection questions in your notebook.  Be ready to discuss them in class.

1. What do you think of Christopher Columbus after reading Zinn's article?  Is this a different opinion than you had before the reading?  Does this change your perspective on American history?
2. What do you think of Howard Zinn?  Does he write good history?